Tag: balloon

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HAB APRS tracking

Notes on high altitude balloon tracking using APRS.

Byonics TT3 is another option – a separate APRS encoder, to be combined with GPS and transmitter, for example:

What are all the pieces I will need to make a complete TinyTrak APRS tracker?

  • You will need:
    • a TinyTrak3 or TinyTrak4 controller (The primary difference is that the TinyTrak4 can decode incoming stations, so you can monitor others if you connect a computer.)
    • a serial GPS recevier, such as our GPS2. (We sell both TinyTraks as a combo above with a GPS2.)
    • a radio/power interface cable to connect to the mic & speaker or data jacks of the 2 meter mobile or handheld radio you will use. (If you don’t have a radio, consider our Micro-Trak line which include the transmitter.)
    • a F-F null modem cable to connect the TinyTrak to your computer serial port for configuration, and possibily for operations for the TinyTrak4.
    • a USB to serial adapter if your computer doesn’t have a serial port.
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RTTY with Arduino

Transmitting on 434.650 MHz.

Successfully ran the configuration described in this article

By Anthony Stirk at UKHAS

http://ukhas.org.uk/guides:linkingarduinotontx2

Have only tried 50 baud – but the beacon ran for over an hour without errors. The receiving   setup was done on a Windows 7 computer:

  • Funcube (software defined radio)
  • FCHID (software to tune the Funcube)
  • Spectraview (demodulate signal from Funcube to SSB)
  • FLDigi (decode RTTY using custom setup)

The bandwidth of the RTTY signal was close to 900 instead of something more reasonable like 50. This can be adjusted by trying various resistor values in the voltage divider circuit.

Next steps include building antennas and increasing the baud rate.